“Someone got in the house and attacked me and my husband and I’m all bloody and I’m an old woman,” Harriet told the dispatcher. “I’m on the floor and my husband’s hit in the head and I’ve been hit on my head.”

Rupert, a World War II veteran, died from his injuries. Harriet is in stable condition in hospital.

Shortly after, police arrested Ngor Makuey, 19, and charged him with murder. Police say he was found with blood on his arms.

Police haven’t yet established a motive. Makuey lived nearby, had been a student at Southeast Polk High School within the last year and doesn’t have a history with Des Moines police.